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Seeing three sharks and about 100 stingrays while flying over Fernandina Beach waters prompted Jeffrey Bunch , deputy chief of the Fernandina Beach Fire Department , to close the beach for about an hour Monday and two hours Tuesday.

I was concerned because they were right offshore , he said.

Bunch said two of the sharks were about 8 feet long and another was between 12 and 15 feet long.They were swimming just north of the pier at South Fletcher Avenue and could be seen from shore , Bunch said.He flew the coastline , he said , because he had heard of so many land sightings of sharks.

Bait fish enticed the sharks and stingrays to come near shore , he said.

They are always out there , they just usually don't come in that close , Bunch said.

Sharks have attracted more attention than usual in Fernandina Beach since an 18-year-old visitor from Cincinnati was bitten on the foot while boogie-boarding in waist-deep water on the south end of Amelia Island in July , Bunch said.

That was the first attack here in 10 years , he said.

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Bunch said he grew up in Fernandina Beach and is used to shark sightings.

I've swam within 10 feet of them many times , he said.They've never really bothered me ; when I saw them I just quietly left the area..

But some surfers and kayakers who played in Main Beach's surf Monday and Tuesday reported that they had encountered aggressive sharks.

A few surfers said they were being harassed [ by a shark ] and a kayaker said the shark , which was longer than his kayak , followed him all the way back to shore , Bunch said.

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Sharks aren't usually that aggressive , Bunch said.

I think they know the difference between a person and a fish , he said.If a shark bites someone , it's usually a rogue shark or a mistake..

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Fire Marshal Jeffrey Bunch says he found a lot of problems when he inspected the school in February, 37 in all

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"Part of the fire alarm system had been compromised," said Marshal Jeffrey Bunch.In fact, he says he found a lot of problems when he inspected the school in February, 37 in all.The deficiencies cited ranged from not enough sprinklers over the stage, to blocked exits.Most of the problems Bunch documented fall under a state classification of "serious."

"If the horn strobes, the fire alarm system hasn't been connected," said Bunch."then I probably won't let them use the assembly area either."

The school superintendent of Nassau County says he realizes the attachment to the auditorium.